


Afterthought

by draculard



Series: Pellaeon/Thrawn 30 Day Ficlets [6]
Category: Star Wars Legends: Thrawn Trilogy - Timothy Zahn
Genre: Drunken Confessions, Humor, M/M, Pre-Relationship, accidental love confession
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-05
Updated: 2020-09-05
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:28:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 588
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26260408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/draculard/pseuds/draculard
Summary: In perhaps the most humiliating event of his entire life, Pellaeon accidentally says "I love you" to Grand Admiral Thrawn on the bridge.
Relationships: Gilad Pellaeon/Thrawn | Mitth’raw’nuruodo
Series: Pellaeon/Thrawn 30 Day Ficlets [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1904581
Kudos: 35





	Afterthought

“Sir…” Pellaeon said. He sighed, trying to will away the color in his cheeks. Might as well get this over with. “I wanted to apologize for — for what I said over comm. I didn’t mean it, of course. It’s simply an old habit — you see, I — I — is that Corellian red?”

Thrawn froze in the middle of pouring a glass of wine. Gradually, he adjusted the angle of his hand and put the bottle down. There was another glass, this one already full, next to the first.

“An old habit?” he said, his face impossible to read.

“Yes, sir,” said Pellaeon, eyeing the wine glasses with a frown. “It hasn’t reared its head in a while, but … well, it’s common for humans to say goodbye to their loved ones like that over the comm or HoloNet. It’s fairly common, too, to slip up and say it by mistake when you’re talking to someone else. It’s like an afterthought, sir. You don’t really think about it; it just slips out.”

Thrawn straightened up slowly and clasped his hands behind his back. “Mistake?” he said.

“Yes, sir,” said Pellaeon, now narrowing his eyes as he studied Thrawn.

“Ah,” said Thrawn. He looked down at the wine glasses before him, eyes flickering from one to the next. Then, still unreadable, he glanced around the room before dragging his gaze back to Pellaeon. “Well,” he said.

And then he didn’t say anything else.

“Well…” Pellaeon tentatively agreed.

“Well, have a glass of wine,” Thrawn said, his tone suddenly so brusque that he _had_ to be irritated. He looked sharply away as he said it. After a moment, Pellaeon took the less-full glass at once and sipped it politely; clearly, the admiral was in a bit of a bad mood. Best not to hesitate or question his orders, even if he _was_ on-shift. 

Once Pellaeon had taken that first drink, Thrawn grabbed the other glass and downed it in one long swallow; he kept his eyes fixed firmly on the art holos currently on display. Gradually, as the _(rather large, entire glass of)_ wine set in, his cheeks turned a darker shade of indigo.

Wine-flush, Pellaeon told himself. Then he hesitated, examining the clues more closely. More objectively. First, he’d said “I love you” over comm to Grand Admiral Thrawn — and on the bridge of all places, which made it one of the most embarrassing things he’d ever done in his life. And then, rather than berate him for it, Thrawn had called Pellaeon to his quarters — not his office — to discuss it in private. And he’d taken out a bottle of Corellian red, Pellaeon’s favorite, and poured two glasses, and now…

Well, if it weren’t for the fact that this was Grand Admiral Thrawn of all people, Pellaeon would almost think this was a come-on.

He looked down into his glass. It had to be the wine talking. Still…

“Not that I’d be opposed to something like that,” he heard himself say, and suddenly Thrawn was looking at him again, eyes narrow and lips pursed. Pellaeon drained his wine glass, tipping his head up so he wouldn’t have to see Thrawn’s face. When he set it down empty on the desk, they spent a moment staring at each other, eyes flickering across each other’s faces. Thrawn’s gaze dropped sharply to Pellaeon’s mouth. Pellaeon found himself doing the same, noting the darker shade of blue on Thrawn’s lips.

Silently, and now with an almost imperceptible smile, Thrawn reached down and re-filled Pellaeon’s glass.


End file.
